May 17, 2011

Goldie Says: Here’s Nine Thoughts on Niko Hovinen and his new deal with the Flyers. This damages Eriksson and Riopel’s long-term value. A phrase to describe Philly’s goalie depth? Convoluted and over-saturated madness.

Chicago prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy is off to the KHL.

Pekka Rinne with a gem of an interview over at Puck Daddy.

After battling injuries over the past few years, Sens prospect Jared Cowen appears to have gotten his career back on track. He had a fantastic WHL season and has adjusted seamlessly to the AHL game after joining the Baby Sens during their playoff run.

Cowen is big and mobile. His development will probably mirror that of Victor Hedman – don’t expect much offense out of the gate, but in the right situation he could be a solid point producer. Not saying he will be as good as Hedman, but stylistically they are similar players.

If you own Tavares, Okposo, Bailey, Moulson, heck, any Islander, look for improved offensive numbers in 2011-12. Young players don’t always improve (people that expect improvement each year are making a huge error, and one that is very common), but the return of Mark Streit to the lineup will have a huge, huge trickledown effect.

On paper, I’d like to see Travis Hamonic play the point with Streit on the power play. Hamonic moves the puck well and he has an absolute hammer of a point shot.

It sounds like the Thrashers could be on the move to Winnipeg shortly. I wonder how the NHL will realign the divisions. Does Detroit go to the East? What about Nashville to the Southeast?